296 THE WASATCH AND BRIDGER FAUN^. 



The skull is larger than that of the red fox, and resembles in general 

 proportions that of the opossum. The brain-case is narrow, and the sagittal 

 crest is elevated. The muzzle is contracted but not short, and the palate is 

 wide posteriorly. One character of the Creodonta, in which they resemble 

 the opossums, is seen in the relatively small size of the molar teeth. There 

 is no trace of preglenoid crest. The premaxillary bone is narrow, and its 

 superior process does not reach near to the frontal. Its inferior lateral 

 aspect is excavated for the apex of the inferior canine tooth. The nasal 

 bones have a short free extremity, together forming an angulate semicii-cle, 

 and do not extend beyond the vertical line of the anterior border of the 

 canine teeth. The front is very wide, much exceeding the proportions in 

 S. caylml, and equaling one-half the length from the premaxillary border 

 to the union of the temporal ridges. The latter are low and rather trans- 

 verse. There are no postorbital processes, and the angle is very obtuse. 

 The sagittal crest grows higher posteriorly. The posterior border of the 

 palate is transverse, and a little concave, and is thickened. Between the 

 processus triangularis and the alveolus of the M. iii there is first a notch 

 and then a short process. The maxillary bone is excavated between the 

 true molar teeth. The malar bones are thin and shallow. They have no 

 postorbital angle. The glenoid cavity extends on the zygomatic process of 

 the squamosal, and terminates in a rounded border. 



The incisor foramina are short and rather wide. The infraorbital fora- 

 men is large, vertical, and above the postei'ior root of the fourth premolar. 

 There is no postzygomatic foramen. 



There are three closely placed superior incisors on each side, of which 

 the external is separated from the canine by an interspace equal to the 

 widths of two of them. The canine is large, and has a robust root; the 

 crown is lost. A short diastema separates it from the first premolar, wliit-li 

 has two well-developed roots. A very short space separates these from the 

 anterior root of the second premolar. The roots of the remaining molars 

 are adjacent. The crowns of all the true molars, and that of the fourth pre- 

 molar, are preserved; the others are lost. The fourth jjremolar has the 

 character of other species of the genus. Externally there is a median cone, 

 a posterior distinct heel, and a low anterior basal lobe. The internal lobe 



